


Slow and Steady

by clockworkgirl221



Series: The Communicator [8]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, M/M, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockworkgirl221/pseuds/clockworkgirl221
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five moments as seen through the eyes of five other witches.</p>
<p>Or, a long courtship between Martin Crieff and Douglas Richardson, and the other witches who witnesses it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow and Steady

**Author's Note:**

> My original characters decided to take over. This is what happened:

1 - KAITLIN

Kaitlin and Annie returned from their honeymoon refreshed and still happy with one another. Once they were home in Bristol, Kaitlin visited her mother.

“And how was Paris?” Angel asked.

“Lovely as ever, mother. How was Bristol?” Kaitlin asked.

“Lovely as ever. Rainy and windy, but that’s autumn for you,” Angel replied, taking a sip of her tea, “But quite lovely all the same.”

“How are Simon and Robin?” Kaitlin asked.

“Robin is showing a baby bump, but she’s still working—the stubborn girl,” Angel replied, “And Simon is working hard as ever. They’ve been comparing prices on baby items, but I told them I still had baby things from all three of my own pregnancies should they want to save a lot of money.”

“Of course,” Kaitlin replied. “And—“

“Martin’s great. He and Douglas finally got together,” Angel replied, knowing exactly where the conversation was going.

“He made his decision last week?” Kaitlin asked, one eyebrow rising.

Angel only smiled.

So that was how Kaitlin found herself having Martin and Douglas over for dinner one night a week later. Martin asked many questions about the honeymoon and how the rest of the family was doing, and Annie and Douglas talked about other things, like football and flying and whether Annie and Kaitlin would adopt kids or not.

Kaitlin suddenly called her wife into the kitchen to help her set the table. In low voices they whispered about the new couple, and Kaitlin found her eyes straying to the two sitting on the other side of the kitchen counter. Martin had clasped Douglas’s hand in the shy way that Martin always did with other people: apologetic features, his hands and fingers fairly light just in case the other people wanted to pull away. But Douglas moved his hand only so that they were both clasping each other’s hand, his eyes roving over Martin’s features with stark admiration and adoration.

Annie and Kaitlin smiled at each other as they once more continued their table preparations and then called the two men to the dinner table.

2 – NORBERT

Bertie Adams had just turned 20. A scrawny boy with dark hair and green eyes, his witch’s path was Plants. Truly, any of the witches that were students of Fitton’s agricultural school would have to have gifts lying with the Path of Plants, but that was neither here nor there.

Sitting in the common room, with his raven familiar, Odin, trying to catch the latest football match and trying to forget his latest boyfriend who had dumped him because Bertie was rather a studious fellow and didn’t like to go out partying as much as other students did, he found himself looking out the window. Like most dorm buildings, the common room was in the basement, allowing the rest of the building to be used as rooms for about ten or eleven students, and the pilot in the attic, of course. The one window in the common room, however, looked out at the entrance of the building, where concrete stairs went up to a small concrete porch. One couldn’t see the door, but they could see the stairs and the small iron railing on the left-hand side.

As the match on the telly went to commercial, Bertie found his eyes wandering to the window, where he had heard voices. Low murmurings: two men. Martin would be home from another date with Douglas.

It had been two weeks since Martin’s final decision, a decision the three witches of Fitton’s agricultural school had been fairly proud of Martin for, and all Norbert had known of the couple was that they were going slow with the relationship part of their companionship. In two weeks and three dates, the three students had seen nothing of interest between the two men beyond lovesick smiles and occasional handholding.

Jessica Torrson, who had been living in the building the longest out of the three student witches, had known about their first kiss, which had happened after a Crieff Family Reunion about a month or so ago, but since then the couple had probably been doing their kissing in private. Martin had wailed to Jessica about that first kiss, with Calliope and Jessica’s shrew familiar Mars tutting and shaking their heads every five seconds or so.

But tonight, Bertie saw the first kiss between Martin and Douglas in a long time (of the public kisses, at least) quite by accident.

As Douglas walked Martin up to the steps of the building (thanks goodness for commercials, Bertie thought), their hands tightly wound around once another against the cold wind and rain of a normal wintry evening, Martin suddenly turned to Dougas and kissed him under his ear. They reached the bottom step then, and Douglas turned to Martin with a bit of surprise in his features. They said a few words (oh, Bertie wished he could hear them! Stupid glass windows and sound proofing walls!) before Douglas leaned down and chastely kissed the airdot captain on the lips and left the premises.

Bertie quickly looked back at the telly before anyone could accuse him of snooping. Sadly, Calliope had, but she only made a small smirk at the student as he let her in through that same common room window. She made an odd purring noise ebfore dashing up the stairs to the attic, murmuring something, which Odin told her roughly translated into, “Stupid humans forgetting about me again…”

3 – JESSICA

Jessie Torrson, almost 21 years old, put her hands on her hips like a defiant teenager. “Why are you leaving us so suddenly, Marty?” she asked.

“I’ve got a paying job now, Jessie,” Martin replied, “I don’t have to stay here any longer.”

“So that’s it, then?” the Scandinavian-blooded blonde asked, her watery blue eyes suddenly tearing.

Martin sighed, knowing that Jessie was a fairly decent actress. Why she hadn’t gone to London to act when she was eighteen was unknown to the airdot captain.

“He can visit you anytime,” said Douglas as he entered the room for the rest of the boxes. Martin was moving into a rented flat that was still decently priced, but more central than the dorm house was.

“He’ll be welcome,” Bertie said, looking around the attic, “But we certainly will miss him actually living here with us.”

Jessica was so peeved at that point that she flung the door open and stomped down the stairs to her room, which she shared with Eloise Lafferty, another witch. Jessie put her hands over her prized pea plants and tried to calm herself down by focusing her energy into the plants, but the energy release wasn’t helping. She was happy for Martin, she truly was. A big company from central Bristol sponsored MJN now, and so Martin’s boss could pay him as much as she paid the other pilot (while still having her son work as a steward for free). He could now afford food and proper lodging, and the van was now just transport for himself to the places he needed to be. It was just… Jessie didn’t like change so much. She had been living in the dorm house since she was 18, and Martin had been a comfort for her. He helped around the common room, and often watched telly with her, and he was an adult witch, which was nice because Jessica had had someone who chat with before Norbert and Eloise had come around, and even then the four had been rather tight.

Jessica’s familiar, a shrew named Mars, told her she was being childish, and ordered that she go up to the attic to say so. She did with a sigh. When she saw that the door was still slightly ajar, she went directly to open it up. She realized, a little too late, that it was rather quiet in the room. That should have been her first clue.

When the door opened, she noticed why it was so quiet. Not much of the furniture up in the attic was Martin’s. The mini-fridge and the bed and the counter had been in the room before Martin had been. But as she gazed upon the stripped attic room, she noticed that the bed was occupied. Martin and Douglas were lying on it, wrapped in each other’s arms. Calliope was lying stretched over both of them, her tiny ribs rising and falling quickly.

Mars advised her to flee quickly and come back later. Jessica snapped a picture of the sight on her phone first before doing just that.

4 – ELOISE

After their ex-resident-pilot moved out of the attic, Eloise Lafferty, a pretty young lady with light auburn hair and interestingly hazel eyes called upon him in his new flat.

“It’s lovely,” she said in her sweet voice. Her familiar, a calico queen named Medusa, touched noses with Calliope, and the two went fondly off to the top of the fridge, where a blanket had been laid out for Calli.

The room was still small, but there was more room, and one bedroom and one bathroom connected off of the living/dining/kitchen area. The floors were hardwood, except in the bedroom, where the carpet was tan and looked rather plush. Martin had a sofa set up, and a coffee table. The bed in the bedroom was a housewarming gift from Mummy Crieff, and the couch was from Kaitlin and Annie. Otherwise the house was cozy, if a little empty. Martin looked comfortable in it, however, and he offered the small student witch a cup of tea, of which she accepted graciously.

“How is everyone?” Martin asked.

“We’re all fine. I mean, Jess is still angry with you, and Bertie’s a bit more quiet than usual, but we’re hanging on. The other two would have joined me but… they’ve got exams and I’m all done with mine,” she said rather sheepishly.

They talked a bit more about this and that, and then Eloise decided she best go. She had promised to quiz Jessica for her exam the next morning, but Eloise had some shopping to do first. Douglas was just coming through the door anyway.

Medusa and Calliope said their goodbyes as the humans did the same, and Eloise was off.

She did indeed do her shopping, but she stopped by the park to take a quick walk. The weather was just getting decent, as spring was fast approaching. It had been a few months since Jessica had witnessed Martin and Douglas cuddling that last day Martin was in the dorm house. Eloise was just thinking about the last spring, when Martin was still around, as she wandered about the park, smiling at the newborn lambs and ducks. She was a daydreamer, as well as a really great kid, so she wasn’t really paying much attention to her surroundings until she noticed two people under a tree. Pausing on the pathway and squinting, she realized the two people were Martin and Douglas, sitting on a picnic table and… kissing. It wasn’t a chaste goodnight kiss, like the one Norbert saw last autumn, but a proper kiss.

Calliope was sitting on the fence nearest Eloise and Medusa.

“I’m not sure of PDA symbolizes anything, but its creeping me out,” said Calliope, opening up her lines of communication to Eloise.

Eloise didn’t want to say anything, and soon fled the premises, fairly embarrassed.

5 – HARRIET

Hattie Kennings had a bad habit of not telling people of her plans. So that lovely Thursday night at the beginning of summer, when she found herself in Fitton banging on Martin’s door and announcing that she was staying the night. Martin couldn’t really turn her away at ten at night, so he made her the spare cot in his bedroom and they spent the next day talking and catching up.

“I’ve got tomorrow and the rest of the weekend off, and I don’t want to be at my lonely apartment,” was Hattie’s excuse.

Martin looked nice in his rented apartment, eating more vegetables and fruits thanks to Hattie’s company sponsoring MJN. GERTI had gotten repainted and properly looked at, with Martin right there Communicating to the plane and being a buffer between the old girl and the engineers. She was sounder and less broken these days. Carolyn still couldn’t afford a second plane and more pilots, but a lot of their clients liked the homey quality of MJN. Carolyn was still a miser when it came to money, but she could pay Martin now, and that was really all that Hattie was thinking about when she had talked her boss into sponsoring the tiny company.

Also Douglas and Martin were still dating after almost a year. Hattie was so proud of the both of them, even though they hadn’t really advanced in their physical relationship.

“No rush,” Hattie had said to Martin, who was blushing like a fool but smiling much like one as well.

“I have never been in a relationship like this before,” Martin replied, once he had stopped stumbling over his words and getting all flustered about… everything. “There was one girl in grammar school, but she figured I was more gay than I was straight, and then in flight school there was… Andy Parkins, but then… nothing.”

Calliope sighed, “He’s a very sad individual who would rather study than go out and actually meet people.”

“You shouldn’t be saying anything, Calli,” said Diana, “You came around when he was 33 and pretty much secretly in love with Douglas. A secret that was even a secret to himself.”

“We have naughty familiars,” Hattie said, rolling the hedgehog onto her back and poking her lightly on her stomach. Diana promptly rolled into a ball, causing Martin and Calliope to laugh.

After dinner at a restaurant that Hattie paid for, the two had a glass of wine and discussed work and summer plans (if the weather held up), and finally Martin asked, “How long are you staying, Hattie?”

“The rest of the weekend, I thought,” said the other Communicator.

Martin groaned, “Hattie, Douglas and I made plans for tomorrow!”

“I’ll stay home and catch a movie or something,” Hattie replied, “I got you that nice television and DVD player for your birthday for a reason.

“And all I have is _Airplane_ ,” Martin replied.

“Still? God, the one DVD I told Arthur not to get and its still the only one you have?”

“I have no interest in anything else,” Martin replied.

“You could get Netflix or something… it wouldn’t cost you much and you could pretty much get whatever you want and then send it back,” Hattie said.

“There’s a DVD rental place down the road, Hattie…” Martin replied, “And we’re just going for dinner.”

“Really?” Hattie asked, surprised, “Boring.” Martin hit her lighting on her calf and she laughed, “Okay! Okay! We can’t all be clubbing at LGBT friendly clubs and bringing home a bisexual man or woman a night!”

They continued talking long into the night, and in the morning, Hattie’s natural alarm clock got her up at 6:00 in the morning, so she made breakfast for Martin, who’s natural alarm clock got him up at 6:15, she at least had bacon frying and toast in the toaster.

After breakfast they took a turn around the park, fed the ducks, rushed back to the apartment just as the rain actually hit, and made sandwiches for themselves as they watched the rain and tried to play twenty questions with one another. Martin only won because Hattie was more terrible than Martin at word and guessing games.

As evening came and Martin began getting ready for his date, Hattie was winding down as she helped Martin prepare, and then prepared her own evening, saw Martin and Douglas off, and finally settled in to watch her film: _War Horse_. After contemplating why Major Jaime Stewart looked so familiar and crying for about a half an hour after the movie’s end credits, she decided that she would take a shower and then read a book while raiding the fridge.

The first part of that plan done, she was just getting on to the second part when…

… she walked in on Douglas and Martin on the couch, fully making out, with Douglas’s shirt button down and hanging open, and Martin’s sky-blue polo shirt on the floor along with the jacket thrown carelessly over the coffee table.

Calliope suddenly dashed in to Martin’s room, and Hattie had the good sense to flee back into the room as well, shutting the door.

Twenty minutes later, Martin came into the room as well with his shirt back on, having seen Douglas home. “We had a bit much to drink and… well… you saw what happened.”

“I would make you march over and finish what you started, but I know you’re taking things slow and I’ll respect your decision,” Hattie replied in her calm professional manner. Then, when she couldn’t handle being posh anymore, she burst out laughing, “You started it, didn’t you?”

“Shut up, Hattie!” Martin replied sharply, cheeks reddening.

“You dog!”

“I said, shut up!”

But Hattie wouldn’t, and soon Diana and Calliope were in on the fun as well. Suffice to say, Martin didn’t get any peace for the rest of the night.

Hattie returned home to Bristol Sunday evening, but the next weekend she was returning to Fitton because she was flying to Paris with MJN Air for another client meeting.

The Saturday night of the trip, while at the hotel bar trying to get a hook-up, she got a text, _Anniversary w/ Douglas tonight. I’m ready to take the next step so… I’m going to. -M_

Hattie smiled at the text, and then caught the eye of a very pretty Asian woman. _Congratulations. I’m sure we’ll be meeting for lunch and we’ll swap stories then, ok? Wish me luck! -H_

_Haha, good luck, Hattie. -M_

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not quite sure what I can do after this one, so... this might be it for the series.
> 
> This message will disappear once I do get another idea for this one. So do keep hope that the muse for this returns with a vengeance.


End file.
